Over the past decade, the Internet has rapidly become an important source of information for individuals and businesses. The popularity of the Internet as an information source is due, in part, to the vast amount of available information that can be downloaded by almost anyone having access to a computer and a modern. Moreover, the Internet is especially conducive to conduct electronic commerce, and has already proven to provide substantial benefits to both businesses and consumers.
Many web services have been developed through which vendors can advertise and sell products directly to potential clients who access their websites. Additionally, many news outlets presently present most, if not all, of their content on the Internet. Individuals also present information on the Internet on web pages or blogs. Many of these sources allow users or viewers to post comments anonymously or after signing in.
Conventionally, the process of adding comments has been open to anyone. As negative posts are made regarding an institution, the institutions only recourse is posting in reply a positive response either named or anonymously. However, anonymity in posting positive comments can result in unintended complications. Consider for example, the actions of Reverb Communications in August of 2009. This public relations firm represented dozens of game publishers and developers at that time and found itself in an embarrassing situation. The firm, as a service to its clients, had promised rave reviews from “game users.” To deliver, it hired interns who trawled iTunes and other community forums looking for opportunities to post positive reviews of client games. However, the backlash to Reverb's “astroturfing” was severe. Word spread through the blogosphere, discrediting both the firm and its clients. It's safe to say that more people read about Reverb's illicit tactics than had actually read its planted reviews.
The problem that Reverb appears to have not appreciated in time is that “astroturfing” violates a fundamental principle of the Internet: Information democracy. People respect and value the opinions of their peers, so much so that they place as much credence on user-generated content as they do on messages crafted by marketers or other experts. In fact, consumers have demanded—and received—numerous forums for sharing their personal experiences with virtually every product or service on the market. To most consumers, “astroturfing” threatens the legitimacy of the Internet. The American government concurs. In October 2009, the Federal Trade Commission introduced new rules requiring bloggers and gadget review sites, among others, to disclose to readers whether they've been compensated to review a product. Failure to do so results in a $11,000 fine.
Conventional on-line marketing and advertising techniques are often limited in their ability to provide contextually relevant material for different types of web pages such as comment fields related to news articles and the like. One reason for this is because conventional techniques typically rely upon non-real time analysis of web page content by third party public relations firms to make determinations as to which online material should be responded to with respect to an institution's image. However, marketers are extremely interested in engaging consumers in the places on the Web where products are discussed, experiences are shared, and opinions are formed. After all, they have a lot at stake in those conversations.
Accordingly, it will be appreciated that there exists a need for improving online contextual commenting techniques in order to utilize real-time analysis of web and offset the negative impact of anonymous posting. In part, the present invention addresses this problem by providing marketers and industry participants with an opportunity to engage in the dialogs that occur in the readers' comments sections of news sites and blogs in an above-board way with sponsor comments clearly identified as such.